YouTube video could be HACKING your smartphone

[Anthea]

Watch out - that YouTube video could be HACKING your smartphone

YouTube fans have been warned that those hilarious cat videos may actually be putting their smartphones at risk of attack.

Security experts have found that the voice activation services included in an increasing number of modern devices can be hijacked by criminals using online videos.

The research, by professors at Georgetown University and the University of California, Berkeley, found that even severely muffled or distorted audio can be disguised to affect devices.

YouTube videos could be hacked to attack your phone

These voice commands can then be used to open a malicious URL or download a fraudulent app, putting your smartphone at risk.

A video from the researchers showed that a voice command could be changed so much that human ears could not understand it, but a smartphone could.

Micah Sherr, one of the Georgetown University professors involved in the research, said "It might not work every time, but it's a numbers game."

"If a million people watch a kitten video with a secret message embedded, 10,000 of them might have their phone nearby. If 5,000 of those load a URL with malware on it, you have 5,000 smartphones under an attacker's control."

The team is now calling for more research into these kind of threats to help more consumers from being put at risk.

The news comes after Apple Macbook users were warned about a new virus that would allow hackers to take control of their device and its camera.

The backdoor malware infects the OS X operating system and gives hackers complete access to the files on the computer.

The service has received a major upgrade as part of Apple's iOS 10 launch, as it will now be available to Mac users for the first time.

Siri can also now work together with third-party apps and services, meaning it could now order an Uber or make a restaurant reservation straight from the app.

http://www.express.co.uk/life-style/sci ... y-research